Cyprus leader calls urgent meeting of party heads

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has called an emergency meeting of party leaders for Wednesday, the presidency said, amid reports a parliamentary vote on a controversial EU bailout deal may again be delayed. The 9:00 am (0700 GMT) meeting will "examine alternative plans to address the situation that may arise following developments determined by the parliamentary vote," the presidency said in a statement on Tuesday. It came as state radio said parliament may again postpone a vote on the bailout that is scheduled for 1600 GMT on Tuesday. Commentators believe that if the measure is put to the vote on Tuesday it will not garner enough support as Anastasiades does not have a clear majority in the 56-seat parliament. The president's rightwing Disy party has 20 seats while its ally, the centre-right Diko which has criticised the deal, has eight. The Communist Akel party has 19 MPs and the socialist Edek, both of which oppose the bailout deal, has five. The remaining seats are held by the Green Party, the European Party (two seats) and an independent. Early Saturday Cyprus agreed a 10-billion-euro ($13 billion) EU bailout whose terms stipulate that a controversial levy of at least 6.75 percent will be slapped on all bank deposits across the island. Anastasiades was hoping to push for a vote during an emergency parliamentary session on Sunday but faced with fury at home the vote was pushed to Monday and then rescheduled for Tuesday. MPs were to vote on a revised bailout plan under which Cyprus dropped the tax on bank savings below 20,000 euros, but retained at 6.75 percent on deposits of 20,000-100,000 euros and at 9.9 percent for amounts above 100,000. The amendments sparked a warning by Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades that the crucial eurozone bailout deal was now in danger of collapse because it the revised plan would fail to raise 5.8 billion euros agreed with the Eurogroup. The weekend bailout deal has triggered an angry backlash at home and jitters that roiled global markets.